Last checked at 
* Q1 service revenue beats analyst expectations
* Roaming and retail makes partial recovery
* Shares rise 2%
(Adds shares, CEO comments)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Mobile operator Vodafone
reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter service
revenue on Friday as more stores reopened and tourism made a
tentative return following last year's COVID-19 disruption.
Chief Executive Nick Read said the company was back to
service revenue growth in Europe as well as Africa as it
reported a 3.3% rise in service revenue.
"This growth was broad-based within both consumer and
business segments, with the vast majority of our markets
contributing," he said.
Vodafone shares were trading 2% higher in early deals on
Friday as revenue growth beat analysts' forecasts of a 1.4%
rise.
Retail footfall across its four largest markets was up 70%
year-on-year but still 40% below pre-COVID levels, Read said.
Roaming and visitor revenue also made only a partial
recovery, up 56% on last year when strict COVID-19 restrictions
were in place in Europe but 54% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
"The recovery was never going to be linear," Read told
reporters.
"We would like to think that when we get to September and
the back to school season that we are largely in a more
normalised environment. But it won't be normal, it will be
normalising."
The company said it maintained momentum in its biggest
market Germany, with growth accelerating to 1.4% against 1.2% in
Q4, while both Britain and Spain returned to quarter-on-quarter
growth as COVID-19 restrictions eased.
Continued competition in Italy resulted in a 3.6% decline,
against a 7.8% decline in the previous quarter.
Vodafone reported strong growth in Africa, where its
financial platform M-Pesa saw transaction volumes increase 45%
year-on-year.
The group said it was on track to deliver its full-year
targets of 15.0-15.4 billion euros in adjusted earnings and at
least 5.2 billion euros in free cash flow.
(Editing by Kate Holton and Joe Bavier)
